Strawberry Love
by Royal Blue Alchemist
Summary: Ichigo/Rukia. Ichigo has just goten use to becoming a Soul Reaper, but his relationship with Rukia is about to change forever. There is not really a time frame for this one
1. Chapter:1

Chapter: 1

Rukia was sitting at her desk, innocently smiling at Orihime as she told her about her day. Rukia glanced back at Ichigo, who was half way asleep. She sighed and looked up and the clock, it was almost time to leave.

"Ah, hang on Orihime. I'm going to go wake up Ichigo."

"Oh, okay." Orihime said her innocent, naive voice.

Rukia walked over to Ichigo's desk and tapped him on the head.

"Ichigo, wake up sleepyhead!!" Rukia sang in fake, innocent voice.

Ichigo's head snapped up like he had just been hit. He turned to Rukia, wearing an irate expression on his face.

"What do you want, Rukia?!"

"Its almost time to go, why are you yelling at me?" Rukia cried with fake tears feeling her eyes.

"Will you cut the act!" Ichigo said in a low hiss.

"Oh, stop it Ichigo, you're scaring me!" Rukia cried as she hid behind Orihime.

Ichigo sank down into his seat as the whole class directed their attention to him. Ichigo's face was red with embarrassment and rage, just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, the bell rang, to his relief. Everyone everted their attention away from Ichigo and started towards to door. Standing up, Ichigo's eyes wandered over to Rukia and Orihime, who were giggling with each other. To his surprise both of the giggling girls looked at him, His cheeks turned red again.

"What's the matter, Ichigo?" Rukia laughed, as an overeager Orihime only laughed louder.

Ichigo's face turned brighter as he stomped out of the room.

"Wait for me, Ichigo!" cried Rukia as ran out of the door after him, "goodbye Orihime, I'll see you tomorrow!" Rukia yelled back at her.

"Ichigo, there's no need to get so upset." Rukia said in her normal voice, "I was just kidding"

"Its annoying and it makes you look stupid." stated Ichigo, his face no longer red.

"Your such a baby, Ichi..."

"What, is something wrong? Rukia?"

Rukia grabbed Ichigo's wrist and pulled him away from the school. She stopped and turned towards him. Ichigo was about to ask what was wrong again but he didn't have the chance. Rukia raised her hand, which had the same familiar red glove covering it.

"Wow, wait Rukia!" Ichigo pleaded.

"Hollow, Ichigo!" yelled Rukia as she hit him in the forehead.

Ichigo's body dropped to the ground as his soul reaper form went flying backwards. Ichigo jumped up sending an evil glare towards Rukia.

"What are you looking at me for?" Rukia pointed behind her as a small Hollow appeared only a few feet away.

Ichigo drew out his Zanpakuto and ran at the Hollow, luckily the hollows strength matched its size. Ichigo cut through it quickly, the poor hollow had no idea what had happened.

"Well, that wasn't any fun." said Ichigo disappointed.

"Stop complaining, Ichigo. We don't want stronger Hollows crawling around here."

Ichigo sighed, " Lets go home, Rukia. Um, but put me back in my body first."

Rukia laughed and nodded her head.


	2. Chapter:2

Chapter: 2

Ichigo opened the gate leading to his house, he leaned against the brick fence and sighed. Rukia had gone in through the window, as usual. He walked across the small patch of yard and opened the door.

"I-chi-go! You're late again!"

Ichigo prepared himself as he heard his fathers loud voice, Ichigo yelled as his father's foot crashed into his stomach, sending him flying backward s and smashing into the door.

"Come on! We just fixed that door!" Karin yelled as she stood up from the coach.

Ichigo jumped up from the ruble of the destroyed door. His face was full rage as he looked at his smiling, laughing father.

"Are you crazy?! I wasn't late! Since when was it a rule that I had to come home right after school, and what kind of welcome was that anyway?!"

Ichigo's Dad stopped laughing and made one of his silly trade mark faces, "You shouldn't yell at Daddy, Ichigo. You should come home right after school, so I know you're okay."

Ichigo's face flared, "Stop acting like such a moron, and stop treating me like a little kid!"

The older man instantly put on a sad-sap face, "Oh, you hurt Daddy's feelings Ichigo." he whimpered with fake tears rolling down his face.

Ichigo cursed under his breath, "I'm going to my room!"

Yuzu stood up and called after Ichigo, "Wait, Ichigo, what do you want for dinner?!"

"I don't care!" called back a frustrated Ichigo as he climbed up the stairs.

Ichigo slouched into his room and flopped down on his bed, sighing and rubbing his head.

"Sounds like quite a party down there." giggled Rukia from across the room.

Ichigo huffed, "Yeah, you can laugh about it because you don't have to deal with it."

Rukia giggled again, "Well, you should be happy that you have a family that cares so much about you."

"Yeah, sure. If you say so." Ichigo let out a deep breath, "hey, what were you and Orihime talking about earlier?"

"She was talking about her day, why?" Rukia questioned with a sly look on her face.

"No, I mean when you two where giggling like... Like two little school girls."

"Why does it matter, Ichigo?" Rukia said, suppressing a giggle.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter!" blurted out Ichigo as he turned away from Rukia, his face red, yet again.

"Your so weird." she said, not being able to hold back her laughter any longer.

Ichigo shot up from his bed, "What are you laughing at?!"

Rukia slightly jumped at his sudden outburst, "Nothing! Your so sensitive." she continued to giggle.

"Ichigo, were going out to eat tonight, come on!" Karin called from down stairs.

Ichigo quickly glanced at Rukia before he answered his sisters call, "I'm staying here, just bring me back something!"

"Oh, you don't want to spend time with your dear, loving family?!" cut in his fathers voice.

"Maybe theirs a reason why he doesn't want to spend time with you, Dad." stated Karin dully.

"What ever do you mean daughter?!" he cried out.

"Ichigo is so lucky, he doesn't have to spend three hours talking and eating with you."

"Okay you two, knock it off!" Yuzu pleaded with them, "okay Ichigo, were leaving now, come on guys!" she said more to her sister and father rather than to Ichigo.

Ichigo let a sigh of relief as he heard them leaving the house, " Its about time."

"Why didn't you go with them, Ichigo? Their your family." Rukia asked him confused.

"There's no reason, I just don't want to go, that's all."

"Oh..." Rukia paused for a moment, "I'm going to take a shower while their gone, is that alright?"

"Whatever, I don't care.." said Ichigo, his gaze fixed on the ceiling.


	3. Chapter:3

Chapter:3

Once Rukia left the room Ichigo bent over his bed and lazily picked up his school bag. He dug through it until he found the worksheet that Ms. Ochi had given him for homework. He looked at it for a moment before tossing it back into his bag, deciding that he wasn't going to do it and to just get the answers for Orihime. Ichigo laid back down on his bed as he heard the shower turn on. He thought again about what Rukia and Orihime where whispering about earlier that day. For some reason he couldn't get his mind off of Rukia. He rolled over on his side and covered his head with a pillow. Ichigo's eyes got heavy as he listened to the falling water coming from the bathroom.

* * *

Ichigo awoke to the sound of his door being open. He shot up, throwing the pillow off his head, thinking it might be his father coming in for a sneak attack. The figure in the door-way only jumped back at his sudden movement.

"Ichigo, you scared me! I thought you where asleep." cried out a wide-eyed Rukia.

Ichigo relaxed seeing that is wasn't his father but Rukia, who was yet again wearing one of his sister's pajamas. Water dripped from Rukia's still wet hair, Ichigo blushed and turned his head away as if she had came in wearing nothing but a towel.

"What's the matter Ichigo?" Rukia asked as she started drying her hair a the small towel she had in her hand.

"Its nothing, you just surprised me." Ichigo looked out the window, avoiding Rukia as if he would turn to stone if he looked at her.

"...okay." Rukia didn't like his answer but she excepted it anyway.

"_Dammit, what's wrong with me?! Why am I acting like suck a moron?! Why can't I look at her? Dammit, I've been like this all day!" _

"Ichigo, you've been acting weird all day, are you sick? You look a little flushed too."

Ichigo looked back at Rukia to see that she was right in front of him, she placed her hand on his forehead, his heart skipped a beat. He slapped her hand away like it was poison.

"Ichigo, what's wrong with you?!" said Rukia in a vary offended voice.

"Its nothing, I'm fine." Ichigo remained sitting on his bed so he could stay at eye level with Rukia, " I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you like that..." for the first time all day he made eye contact with Rukia.

"Its okay," Rukia replied very confused.

Ichigo slightly leaned up from his position on the bed so that he was only a couple of inches away from Rukia.

"Rukia," Ichigo's voice sounded differently than what it usually did, it was soft and vary caring.

"Y-yes...?" questioned Rukia, making no effort to move away from him.

"I..." Ichigo was cut off by the sound of the door to the house being opened.

"Ichigo, were back! I'll bring up your food for you!" sang the perky voice of Yuzu.

Ichigo panicked and jolted away from Rukia, he jumped off his bed and ran towards the door. He grabbed hold of the door knob and held it shut as Yuzu tried to open it.

"Hey, what's wrong with door?"

Ichigo quickly opened the door causing Yuzu to stumble back.

"What are you doing home so soon?"

Once Yuzu regained her balance she answered him, "We just decided to get something to eat and come home to eat it, here's your food." Yuzu held out a small box for Ichigo to take.

Ichigo had just reached out for the box when his father's voice rang through the house, "Ichigo, come eat with us! We came home just so could eat together as a family...! I'm not giving you a choice, son!" Ichigo looked back in his room at Rukia and sighed before walking down the steps with his sister.

* * *

Ichigo silently opened his door and looked around inside, Rukia wasn't there. He walked over to the closet and slid open the door, their Rukia was, sleeping on the mound of blankets like she did every night. He sighed and closed the door, not wanting to wake her up. He looked over to his clock to see how late it was, it was close to midnight. His father had kept him down there for hours, rambling on about meaningless things and insisting that he stay. Ichigo laid down on his bed, deciding to go to sleep himself.


	4. Chapter:4

Ch. 4

.: The next day:.

"Good morning, Ichigo." said Yuzu while handing him a piece of toast.

"Morning." muttered Ichigo snatching it out of her hands.

Ichigo leaned against the counter table and bit into his toast. He closed his eyes and sighed, thinking about the what had happened the night before.

"_Damn it! I was so close, I only needed a few more seconds...! Oh no, what is Rukia going to think? Now everything is just awkward! Is she going to say anything about it? It's all over, everything is ruined." _Ichigo's face grew sour as he thought more and more about it.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You look pretty upset." Ichigo opened his eyes to see Karin looking up at him with the same expression she always wears.

"Its nothing," lied Ichigo. Blaming them, but mostly his father, for last night not working out the way he had planed it.

"Ichigo, your going to be late. You better get going." said the muffled voice of Yuzu, who was now buried behind a load of laundry.

"Yeah, I'm going."

Ichigo walked out of the house and continued to the small gate. Once on the sidewalk he paused, seeing Rukia talking to Orihime about a block away from him. He closed the gate behind him and nervously made his way to the two girls. He could hear his every heartbeat, becoming faster and louder with every step he took. It seemed like an eternity before he reached Rukia and Orihime.

"Good morning Ichigo, how are you?" asked Orihime in a voice too cheerful for so early in the morning.

"Morning Orihime, I'm fine," he lied again, "how about you?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" she said loud enough to wake up the whole block. She glanced back at Rukia and then said in a hushed voice, "I don't think Rukia is doing too well. She has been real quite all morning."

Ichigo looked past Orihime to see Rukia looking at the ground, an unbendable mask on her face. Ichigo quickly looked away, afraid that she might look up.

"Ah, we should probably get going, were going to be late."

Ichigo and Rukia walked on either side of Orihime. Neither Rukia or Ichigo said anything, they both just listened to Orihime blissfully talk about what she had done yesterday. When they arrived at school Tatsuki joined them. Once in the classroom Ichigo slouched down into his chair and Rukia took her normal seat beside him.

Ichigo took a deep breath and turned to Rukia, "um, Rukia, I need to talk to you." Rukia simply turned towards Ichigo without saying anything.

Ichigo was about to speak again, but the classroom door bust open reveling Ms. Ochi. "Okay everyone, sit your butts down so we can get class started! Remember, the earlier we start, the earlier we finish!"

"Rukia, I..."

"Kurosaki, you can talk to Kuchiki after class is over, but for now everyone needs to get out their books."

Some time had passed and Ms. Ochi had her back turned to the class, "Rukia, I really need to talk to you." Rukia turned to him and nodded, her face slightly red.

"Ichigo, I can hear you perfectly fine. I will not have you disrupting my class. Will someone from the front please switch places with Kuchiki?" said Ms. Ochi, her back still turned to the class. Ichigo watched as Rukia gathered her stuff and went to the front of the class. Once class was over Ichigo tried to get to Rukia but Orihime had dragged her off into the hallway.

"Hey, Ichigo." said Tatsuki who was now standing in front of him.

"Yeah, what is it?" said Ichigo, surprised that she wasn't with Orihime.

"Ah, I now this sounds weird, but you want a girl friend, don't you?"

Ichigo was caught off guard by her question, "ah, I guess. Why?"

"Don't worry, I'm not the one that wants to got with you."

"Someone wants to go out with me, who?"

"Ah, I promised I wouldn't tell you her name, but you two have been friends for a quite a while. You seem to really like her yourself. You don't have many girls that are really good friends with, so would you go out with a girl like that?"

Ichigo could tell that Tatsuki was having difficulty with not saying the name of the girl. It didn't seem like she had a lot of time to prepare for this moment. Something downed on him, he had seen Rukia talking to her just before Orihime had dragged her out of the class room.

Ichigo's face brightened, thinking for sure that she was talking about Rukia, "sure, but will you tell me the name of the girl?"

"Um, even though you've already said yes, I can't. She made me swear not to tell you."

"So what, its like a blind date?"

"Yeah, think of it that way! Now come on!"

Tatsuki lead Ichigo to the two giggling girls, Rukia and Orihime. The pace of Ichigo's heart quickened as they approached Rukia. The girls looked at Ichigo as they came to a stop. Ichigo looked at Rukia and smiled, but she slightly frowned.

"He said yes, Orihime!"

Ichigo's heart dropped as Orihime and Tatsuki rejoiced.


	5. Chapter:5

Ch. 5

Ichigo stood in the deserted hallway completely dumbfounded. Everyone else had already left for their next class, Ichigo too stunned to move. He leaned against the lockers and ran his fingers through his hair, with an almost painful expression on his face. He slumped down to the cold tilled floor, resting his head in his shaking hands. He closed his eyes tightly and he cursed under his breath. Tatsuki had practically forced him into taking Orihime out on a date the following evening. Meaning he would have to wait even longer to talk to Rukia, one of her friends wanting to take her shopping right after school.

"Hey, you there, get to class!" Ichigo opened his eyes and lift his head to see a teacher glaring at him.

"Yeah, yeah." Ichigo said with a grimace. Ichigo went to class, the rest of the day passing by quickly until it was time for his date with Orihime.

* * *

Ichigo slowly walked up the steps that led to the door of Orihime's apartment room. Ichigo wasn't dressed up, the only person he would get dressed up for was Rukia. He got to the door and sighed before continuing to knock. Ichigo heard Orihime running towards to door. She opened the door, beaming up at Ichigo. She was wearing a light blue dress, her hair pulled back into a loss bun and her bangs held in place by two blue shimmering berets. Ichigo didn't complement her dress, he barely even looked at her.

"Come on Orihime, lets go." Orihime giggled with delight and latched onto Ichigo's arm. This contact made Ichigo vary feel uneasy. He thought of Rukia latching herself onto his arm, that thought made him forget all about Orihime.

"Um, Ichigo, where are we going to go?"

Ichigo snapped out of his thought and looked down at Orihime, "Oh, um. I thought about the movies..."

"Oh, that sounds great!" Orihime grabbed Ichigo by the hand and dragged him down the stairs. Again, Ichigo found the contact unwanted.

* * *

Ichigo walked Orihime back up to her apartment. More distraught than before, the woman at the ticket counter saying, "oh, what a cute couple." Ichigo rubbed his eyes as they reached her door.

"Um, goodnight, Ichigo." a slight blush coloring her checks.

"Yeah, night, I'll see you tomorrow." Ichigo walked away from her quickly, fearing that she might want a kiss goodbye. Thus, leaving Orihime with a sad look on her face.

Ichigo hurried home, he ran into his house where he was, yet again, attacked by his father. Ichigo quickly pushed his father away, ignoring everyone's questions about his date. He rushed upstairs and silently opened his door. He went over to the closet door and slid it open half way. Rukia was already asleep, it was pretty late. Ichigo opened the door the rest of the way, letting the light pour over Rukia's face. Ichigo reached out his hand, lightly brushing his knuckles across the soft texture of her cheek. He quickly withdrew his hand, even though she had made no movement. He desperately wished to talk to her, but again, he didn't want to wake her up. Ichigo laid down on his bed, but he barely got any sleep.

* * *

"Ichigo, don't you want any breakfast?" Yuzu called after her older brother as he ran out of the door.

"No, Yuzu, I'm fine!"

Ichigo changed his run to a walk after he left his house, seeing Rukia and Orihime waiting for him aa usual. He had to talk to Rukia, now.

"Rukia, I need to talk to you. Orihime, do you mind?"

"Oh, no, I guess not. I'll walk to school without you." Orihime walked away with a disappointed look on her face.

"You know Ichigo, you really should walk to school with her."

"Rukia, I..." Ichigo paused, not having any idea what he was going to say, "I didn't mean to go out with Orihime," was the only thing he could manage to say.

"What do you mean you didn't mean to?"

"Wh-when Tatsuki was talking to me... I thought that-that..." Ichigo couldn't take it, her eyes were burning into his, making it impossible for him to speak.

"You thought what?" the look in Rukia's eyes told Ichigo she knew exactly what he thought.

"I thought she was talking about you, I thought that you wanted to got with me. I wanted to talk to you earlier but I couldn't. I don't know what to do, Orihime is my friend and I don't want to hurt her feelings but I want to out with you, not her!" Ichigo breathed in deeply, not pausing anywhere in his statement.

Rukia looked a little surprised, not expecting such a huge outburst. She looked at him for a moment with a shocked expression, that turned soon turned to a disappointed one.

"I should of told you I felt before.."

"No, Ichigo. A long time ago Orihime told me that she really liked you..."

"So, if I had asked you out, you would of said no?"

"Ichigo, you know I shouldn't even be here. You shouldn't get involved with me, er, romantically. You should date a normal girl, like Orihime."

"But I don't want someone normal like Orihime, I want you!"

"Ichigo, I'm going to be late." Rukia quickly walked away from Ichigo, leaving him standing alone in the street.

Ichigo started to slowly walk towards school. He felt horrible, and now more confused than ever.


	6. Chapter:6

_Sorry everyone, I don' t know why I put this up before, It wasn't done. O.o_

Ch. 6

Ichigo laggard down the deserted hallway of the school building, he was already late, so he was in no hurry to get to class. He ran his fingers through his hair as he seriously thought about just skipping the whole day. He needed time to consider about what to do, he had to it so he wouldn't hurt Orihime's feelings, if he did Rukia would never forgive him. Ichigo's pace slowed so much that he was now barely moving, he paused at the sound of Orihime's voice, though he couldn't make out what she was saying . He peeked around the nearby corner to see that she was talking to Uryu. Orihime was backed up against the wall, looking rather guilty; Uryu was facing her, looking disappointed and mortified.

"Uryu, I'm sorry... I really am."

"Orihime, can't you see, Ichigo doesn't even... I care about you much more than he does." Uryu closed his eyes and drew back a few steps.

"Uryu, you can't say Ichigo doesn't care about me, that's not fair." Orihime tried to keep the sympathy in her voice, but the frustration was shimmering through.

"You're so blind, Orihime."

Uryu walked away from her, heading straight for Ichigo. He quickly ran to his locker, making it look like he was there to get a book. He glanced over at Uryu, who was sending him a death glare that was so bloodcurdling that he thought it might actually kill him. Ichigo silently closed the locker door he had just opened.

"Ichigo."

"Hey, what's up, Uryu?"

"Don't pretend to act stupid, I knew you were listening."

"Yeah, so what?" Ichigo nonchalantly leaned against the locker wall, showing no concern at all.

"How long do you intend to lie to her? She loves you, she thinks that you feel the same. She is to blinded by her love to realize the one you really care about is Rukia."

"...I'm working on it, I think I have an idea."

Ichigo walked away from Uryu, leaving him with an unsatisfying answer. From there he quickly made his way to his classroom. He tried to slip in unnoticed, but to no prevail. He would of made it to his desk without Ms. Ochi seeing him, but someone had the audacity to bellow out, "Hey, Ichigo, where you been?!" causing everyone else, as well as Ms. Ochi to look at him. She sarcastically tanked him for joining them and told him to take his set. Soon after he sat down Orihime and Uryu came in. Ms. Ochi went on a rant after that, deciding to assign the homework that she wasn't to give out. When Ms. Ochi started to pass out papers he quickly turned to Rukia.

"Rukia, come home right after school, I need to talk to you."Rukia said nothing, instead she simple nodded her head.

Ichigo practically ran back to his house, somehow, Rukia would always get there before him. He jerked open the door to his house and pushed himself past his father, who tried to attack him like every other day. His father looked at him stunned as he ran up the stairs without saying anything. As he walked into his room he saw that Rukia was leaning against a wall, waiting for him.

"What is it you want to talk to me about?"

"I know that you've already given me you opinion about us, but just listen to what I have to say," Rukia nodded and stayed silent, " its not right for me to date Orihime if I don't have feelings for her, right? I shouldn't go out with her just to spare her feelings, right? She'll just be in a pointless relationship."

"I suppose so."

Ichigo grinned and continued to talk, " You know that everyone can see it right, that I only like Orihime as a friend. Well, Uryu can see it too."

"Uryu?" she looked very perplexed, not knowing why he would bring Uryu up.

"He came up to me today and asked me how long I was going to lie to Orihime. He is the one that likes Orihime, I heard him tell her so this morning."

"What did Orihime say?"

"Well, she didn't seem interested... but I have a plan. You have to convince Orihime to go out with Uryu."

"Ichigo, you should just tell her the truth."

"I know, but I want to try this first. I don't want her to alone and miserable. Even if she doesn't like him now, maybe she could."

"I guess I can see your point, I'll go over to her house this weekend. If that doesn't work I want you tell her the truth."

"I will, thank you Rukia."

Without realizing it, at some point in their conversation, both of them had ended up in the middle of the room, now very close to each other. Ichigo looked into her eyes, inching closer. The gap between them began to slowly close, and Rukia made no effort to move away. He brushed her cheek with the tips of fingers, before gently placing his palm there. He tilted her head up and leaned down, further closing the crevice that was between them. He tenderly brushed his lips against her, to Ichigo's misbelieve Rukia leaned up further to deepen the kiss. Ichigo was going to pull her into a closer embrace, but he was sadly interrupted.

"Ichigo, come down here, we need your help!"

Ichigo sadly looked at Rukia before leaving, neither of them uttering a signal word.

.:The Next Day:.

xXx Rukia xXx

Rukia slid open the door of 'her' closet and peeked through the small crevice, Ichigo was still sound asleep. She pressed her head lightly against the door, she didn't want to trick Orihime into choosing Uryu over Ichigo. But yet she did. Closing her eyes she thought of how selfish she was being, she shouldn't even be here; in the human world, with Ichigo. She opened the door further and slipped out. She peered down at Ichigo's sleeping form, tears filled her eyes. She desperately wanted to remain here, sadly knowing that she would not be allowed to stay here forever. Whipping her tears away she glanced outside the window, seeing Orihime waiting for her. Quickly retreading back to the closet, she changed out of her nightgown and into her school uniform.

She carefully climbed over Ichigo's bed, opening the window and gracefully climbed out, jumping down to the ground. Somehow, noone ever noticed her jumping out of the window. She briskly walked down the vacant street, eager to speak with Orihime. Her pace deceased as she neared her friend. She couldn't avoid the guilt that ate away at her heart, even though she had yet to do anything wrong. As the dark cloud of culpability hovered over her, animus clouds eclipsed the sun, as to mimic her feelings. She was too consumed in her own thoughts to notice that she had stopped in front Orihime, with her talking light-heartedly speaking to her.

"Hello, Rukia, are you in there?" Orihime waved her hand in front of Rukia, attempting to get her attention.

"Oh, sorry. Hey, I was wondering if I could came over to your house sometime?" she sweetly smiled at her.

"Oh, that would be great!" Orihime's face exploded in an expression of pure joy, "this weekend?"

Rukia hesitated in her answer, "Well, how about tonight?"

"That will be just fine! We'll have so much fun! And I you can try my cooking!"

Rukia did nothing more than simply smile at her as she blissfully went on. Rukia blinked and looked up, something had hit her nose. Bitter cold raindrops gracefully descended from the depressing sky. She squinted her eyes, the silhouette of the cloud hidden sun still brightly shining. She held her bag over her head, trying to shield herself from the steady fall of rain. Orihime mimicked Rukia actions.

"Where's Ichigo...? We're going to get soaked."

"Um... I think I see him." Rukia indicated towards Ichigo's house.

Ichigo ran towards them, an umbrella in hand. Once he reached the two girls he grabbing both of them and pullede them to either side of him, under the umbrella. Rukia and Orihime both latched onto Ichigo's arms. Ichigo's face instantly turned red do to this contact, but mainly for Rukia. They quickly made their way to school, the rain and wind becoming fierce. All three breathed a sigh a relief as the building came into view. Ichigo gently pushed the two girls in the school building, following closely behind them.

"Well, this isn't a such a good start for the day." Orihime sighed, looking out of the window. The rain was coming down so profusely that it was impossible to see more than five feet out in front of you.

"That doesn't mean it will be a bad day." Rukia looked into the reflection of the glass door, trying to fix her damp hair.

"Come on, we're going to be late!" Ichigo was already making his way down the hallway.

"Ichigo, wait for us!" Rukia grabbed Orihime by the wrist and dragged her along with her.

.: Later That Day :.

It was no longer raining, but the sky was still dark. The two girls walked crossed arm down the street, heading towards Ohrihime's place. Rukia laughed along with her friend. The more she talked with her, the more she doubted that she could trick her. She wondered what Ichigo would do if she didn't say anything to her. Orihime ran ahead of her, up the stairs to open the door, she quickly went in and started 'cooking.' Rukia followed in after her, before siting down she looked around at her very simple living room; the only thing standing out was the area set aside for her brother. Sometime ago Orihime had tearfully told her about what had happed to her older brother. Orihime eagerly gave her and bowl of that she could only assume was some attempt at soup. She gave her best effort to smile as she ate whatever it was that Orihime had cooked.

"Its... great, Orihime."

"Do you want some more?! Noone has ever complemented my cooking before!" she jumped up and down across the room with enthusiasm.

Rukia panicked, "er... no thanks, I'm not that hungry right now. Maybe later."

Rukia took in a deep breath, ready to talk to her about Ichigo.

_Just to let you all know, I make my own characters, and I kill characters off... just to let you know..._


	7. Chapter:7

Ch. 7

"So, I was wondering if we could talk about something . . . "

"Sure, Rukia, what is it?"

"Well, I . . . " a load crash came from outside, almost an explosion, " stay here, I'll go see what happened."

Rukia quickly ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Frantically, she looked left and right, then over the railing, but saw nothing. In one quick movement she climbed onto the railing and jump to the ground, landing firmly on her feet. Around the corner she looked, but still was unable to find the source of the explosion. She found it very odd, no one else came out of their quiet little homes to investigate. She closed her eyes and focused, there was no spiritual pressure, no hallow. Nonchalantly, she looked up at the sky, it was growing dark again. The sound she heard could have been thunder . . . but it was simply too loud. It suddenly happened again, this time with more intensity, and it came from Orihime's room. Just a quickly as she had jumped down from the railing, she went back up, bursting down the door in a slit second. The place was a disaster, everything was scattered across the floor, and Orihime was nowhere to be seen. Everything looked like it had been burned, caught in the explosion, but the walls were intact; they shouldn't be if there had been an explosion. There was one thing that was not damaged, the small shrine for Orihime's brother, but everything around it had a burnt look. She was in disbelief, how could all of this happen in the few seconds that she was gone? She peaked out the door, still, no one came out of their houses.

"Orihime!" She couldn't sense her at all, as if she had just disappeared into thin air. She jolted outside and ran down the street.

xXx Ichigo xXx

Ichigo sat in the chair at his desk, absentmindedly looking up at the ceiling. He was about to doze off when someone jumped into his room through the window, hitting his chair and sending him crashing into the wall beside him. He staggered up through the ruble, rubbing his head, all while trying to get into a fighting stance. The sight wasn't all too frightening, he was rubbing dust from his eyes and coughingm still struggling to get up. He was about to open his eyes when someone grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to his feet.

"What the hell!?"

"Ichigo, we have a problem!"

"What, Rukia!? I thought you went to Orihime's!"

"She's gone, I-I don't know what . . . she just disappeared!"

"What are you talking about, slow down!"

She took in a jagged breath, "I heard an explosion, I went outside and saw nothing. There was another one, coming from Orihime's place, when I went back in she was gone." She spoke through her sobs, still not making any sense.

"It's okay, lets go back, maybe we can find something." He looked down at her with concerned eyes.

xXx -- xXx

Ichigo was recklessly throwing things around the room, looking for anything. Rukia absently watched him, waiting for him give up so they can actually start looking for Orihime. She went over to the small shrine and straightened it up, various items being slung onto it by the rampaging Ichigo. She sighed and rubbed her head, Ichigo's curses grew lauder as the seconds passed.

"Why are just sitting there, Rukia!?"

"I told you she's not here anymore, what are you looking for!?"

"What do you want me to do, where else are we suppose to look!? I can't sense her at all, can you?"

"No, but we are not going to hind her here. Just calm down, I'm sure she's fine."

"Dammit." He ran his fingers through his hair and slumped down to the scorched floor. There was a long silence before he spoke again, "you didn't sense anyone, anything?"

"No, nothing at all . . . she didn't even scream out, it all happened so quickly."

He gave her a very surpized look, ". . . Rukia . . . are you blaming yourself for this?"

"No . . . I mean, it may have happened regardless if I was here or not, but it could have something to do with me . . ."

"No, the bastard would have gone after you instead of Orihime, he would have left a ransom note or something."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to pull her into a hug. She attempted to lean in, but she abruptly pushed him away.

"We have to find her."

xXx Orihime xXx

"**Orihime**."

She didn't open her eyes, she didn't even move. The beat of her heart was slow and steady, as if she wasn't scared. She didn't know enough about the current situation to feel anything but confusion. The last thing she remembered was Rukia walking through the doorway, then everything went black. The mysterious voice called out to her again, sending shivers down her spine. It was a deep, and somewhat sad voice, that caused her heart to race. Despite her fear she did not respond to the voice, she only hoped that he would go away. She now felt the fear sink in as she heard soft footsteps come her way. She clinched her fists and whimpered on the cold floor she laying on.

"Rise, Orihime." Still she did nothing, "fine, you can just stay there, It doesn't concern me."

"Who are you, why have you brought me here?" She slowly rose from ground until she was sitting upright. The room was dark, she was unable to see anything.

". . . how desperate you must be, to believe in such an insane lie." His voice was haunting, lingering on like a ghost.

"What are you talking about. . .? Please, why am I here?"

"Kurosaki will come here to rescue you, when he does it will be the end. I wonder, what will you do after he dies?"

"Dies. . .? You- you can't hurt Kurosaki!"

"Hmm. . . even though you claim feelings of love for him, you do not address him as Ichigo? Perhaps it is because you know he does not love you?"

"Please, stop!" Her eyes filled with tears as she listened to the man she could not see.

"You know he loves another." His voice was filled malice and pity.

"Stop!" She desperately cut him off, hoping it would silence him.

"He loves _her, _not you."

"He does not!" She broke into uncontrollable sobs, her body falling back to the floor.

She flinched and tried to pull away as she felt a soft hand being placed on her shoulder. The hand only slipped around the rest of her body and pulled her up into a gentle embrace. She slammed her eyes tightly shut as the beats of her heart hammered against her eardrums, certain that the other person could hear it as clearly as she could. Hot tears continued to stream out of her eyes, only to be met by the soft hand that wiped them away. The rapid beating of her heart began the slow, even though she was still very frightened and angry. Slowly she opened her eyes, only to realize that her face was buried in his chest. To no success, she tried to pull away, she had never been held like this before. How can it be that this stranger was gently cradling her in his arm the way she so desperately wanted Ichigo to?

xXx Rukia xXx

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Shut up Uryu, it wasn't my fault!"

"Why would someone attack Orihime? They must of been after you!"

"Are you blaming me for this?!"

"I think we've already established that!"

"You bastard!"

Rukia watched Ichigo and Uryu as they yelled like maniacs in the middle of the street. She leaned against a lamppost and sighed in frustration, they were no closer to finding Orihime than they were at her apartment. She felt that she had to step in when it looked like they were on the verge of fighting.

"Will you two men stop arguing?! We are not going to going to find Orihime this way!" Both stop and looked at her, then back at each other.

"Where do we start? We don't have any leads. . ." It was Uryu that askes the question, not taking his murderous eyes off Ichigo.

_Finaly got the time to update, I'm on fall break right now. Hmm, I would really like some more reiews, please. _


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter: 8

"Rukia, Rukia! Where are you?!"

Ichigo stumbled around in the darkness, completely oblivious to what had occurred. The only thing he could recollect was asking Rukia how they planed to find Orihime, then everything went black. He walked sluggishly in blindness, searching for anything with his hands. With alarm seeping through his voice, he called for Rukia over and over again, and perhaps a few times for Uryu. His heart pounded against his chest as the only thing that answered his cries of distress, was his own echoing voice. His hands found nothing as he hopelessly grasped the air surrounding him. As his panic and frustration began to eat him alive, he broke off into a run, still bellowing for Rukia. His eyes anxiously searched the opaque room, well, what he presumed was room. After what seemed like an eternity of running, he found what he was looking for, a door with light gleaming through the crevices. He bolted to the door and slammed it down, not bothering to be very subtle. Before he was blinded by darkness, but now he was blinded by a dazzling light, which caused his eyes to shut tightly. As soon as he opened them, his body was hurled into a nearby wall. When he got up, he saw his body still laying on the floor, then he realized that he was in his Soul Reaper form. Something instantly clinched his arm, he looked down, and his eyes filled with horror. Rukia was looking up at him, cuts marring her face.

"I- Ichigo." She gasped out his name, with a look of helplessness on her injured face.

"Rukia, what happened?!"

He quickly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a long-awaited, gentle embrace. He nuzzled her neck and listened to her heavy breathing, unaware to anything else around him. He could fell her trying to pull away, trying to tell him something, but he completely ignored her and keep her safely cradled in his arms. Then, something scorched into his back, sending him flying forwards, but he managed to catch himself, all while keeping Rukia in his arms. Gently, he sat her down, turning for face whatever had hit him. With anger in his eyes he glared at the dark, head to toe, hooded figure in front of him. He quickly drew out his sword and pointed it at the shrouded enemy.

"You, are you the one that hurt Rukia?!"

The enemy's head tilted, as if in confusion, "Yes, this is my doing." It was cool female voice that spoke to him.

He was too enraged to say anything in response, he gripped his sword tightly and lunged at the woman. He was in front of her in a flash, and brought down his heavy sword. The woman simply smirked and sidestepped out of the way, she brought up her leg and slammed into his stomach. Ichigo went soaring up into the air and hit the ground with a bone-cracking thud. He sent her an angry glare, and used his sword to pull his body up from the ground. He mindlessly lunged at her again and again, only to have her evade him every time. Soon, she stopped avoiding him and drew out a long sword from out of nowhere. She bombarded him with painful attack after agonizing attack. He could feel the burning pain in his left arm, a long slash trailed down the entire length of it. Still, he continued to pointlessly swing his sword at her.

"Ichigo, I think you should try something else!" Rukia's annoyed voice rang out from behind him.

Ichigo scoffed at her before putting away his sword. This caused both Rukia and the mysterious woman to look at him in confusion, the woman, in particular, tilting her head once again. He darted off towards Rukia, scooped her up in his arms and ran back into the dark room. The woman went after them, but a slow walking pace.

"Ichigo, what are you doing?!"

"Be quiet, were running away!"

"I can see that! Why are we running away?! What about Orihime and Uryu?!"

"We'll find them, but we both know I can't beat her! I'm not going to let her hurt you!"

"Ichigo..." She gazed up at him with tearful eyes.

He stopped in his tracks when a red light went zooming past him, when he turned he saw _her _emerging for the shadows. Quickly, he sat Rukia down and went into a fighting stance; it looked like he would have to fight her no matter what. In one quick movement she materialized in front of him. He reached behind him to pull out his sword, but when he did the woman latched herself onto him. He fell to the floor with her arms still wrapped around his waist, her face buried in his chest. She gazed up at him, her hood still concealing her eyes, but it was clear that they were piercing into his. He examined her shrouded face with great confusion masking his. He tried to scrim away from her, too stunned to do much of anything else. Rukia's face was as astonished as Ichigo's, only she had a hint of annoyance on her's.

"Ichigo." She said his name, though it was muffled by the scarf that covered the lower part of her face.

"Wha...? How do you know my name? I never said it." He looked at her sternly, though confusion still stepped through.

"Don't..."

He futilely tried to push her away again, "Don't what? What are you talking about?" Just like Rukia, annoyance was visible on his face.

"Don't leave me... Ichigo."

With that, he pushed her away and stumbled back towards Rukia. He looked at her quizzically and then back to the woman. With a quick glance at Rukia she stood up and fixed her gaze back on Ichigo. Her sword had disappeared back to wherever it had came from, so she stood now empty handed. As she took one small in Ichigo's direction, he pulled out his sword and pointed it dangerously at her. She tilted her head in confusion and withdrew her step.

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" Their was an almost genuine sadness in her soft voice.

"What are you talking about, how do you know Ichigo?" It was Rukia that spoke this time, with a calm voice.

All she did was glance at her again before turning to Ichigo, "Ichigo, please." She opened her arms wide and simply stared at him.

Both Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other again, shocked. "How do you know me? Who are you?" He was getting tired of this game, and his tone showed it.

He lowered his sword as she put her arms back at her sides. When Ichigo turned to look at Rukia she lunged towards him; out of surprise he raised his sword, and it pierced through her chest. She froze in place, with her outstretched hands inched away from his face. His eyes widened as the blood splattered across his face. Her head dropped down and her arms fell limply to her sides, held up by nothing more but the sword. His hands trembled as he reached out to pull the hood away from her head. His heart pounded furiously against his heavy chest as the rest of the world stood still. Sweet came from every pore, every second passed like a life time. His stumbled back, taking his sword with him, letting the body fall lifelessly to the ground. Rukia followed his actions, tears streaming from her already blood shot eyes. As the woman hit the ground her long hair fell away from her face, her nearly lifeless eyes stared blankly up at Ichigo. He quickly dropped to her side, and gathered her in his arms, staring blankly. Through the darkness they saw that the bloody figure in front of them was Orihime.

"Ori. . . hime?" She dropped to Ichigo's side.

The dull eyes looked up into theirs, empty of all emotion. She stirred lightly in Ichigo arms and let out a gasping breath. She turned her head away from them, staring off into the darkness that lied in front of them. Light footsteps echoed towards them, going louder with each passing second. This time a cloaked man emerged from the dark abyss, one with piercing red eyes. Rukia was too concerned with Orihime to notice him, but Ichigo's eyes flashed to him immediately.

Gently, he placed Orihime on the ground and warily pointed his weapon at the stranger. Rukia was oblivious to the man, and quietly spoke to Ichigo.

"Ichigo, theirs no way," she paused for a few moments, "Orihime. . . She cant do all this. . . This cant be her. . ."

"Rukia."

She looked up at Ichigo and fallowed his intense glare to the cloaked man standing only a few feet away from them. He advanced forwards, grabbing the base of Ichigo's sword and threw him deeper into the darkness. As he came, a dim light came with him, making Orihime's bloody form more visible. He gave one quick glance to Rukia before pulling Orihime against his chest and jumping back at lest twenty feet. He laughed darkly as Ichigo jumped back to Rukia's side. Fire raged in Ichigo's eyes and his sword trembled in his hands. He stepped in front of Rukia, ready to defend her.

"Who are you?!"

The man laughed again, "I am Haku."

He was surprised that he so willingly answered, "Where are we?"

". . .This place doesn't have a name, it is simply where I reside."

"Why did you take Orihime?!" He edged towards him.

"Orihime?" He looked down at the girl in his arms, "is this the girl you speak of?"

"You bastard, put her down!"

"Hmmm. . . No." His pearly white teeth glistened through his mocking smile.

"What. . .? What the hell do you mean no?"

"This woman belongs to me now, and thanks to her, your life will also soon belong to me."

With that the man disappeared into nothingness, leaving both Ichigo and Rukia in the darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

the final chapter.

* * *

Ch.9

xXx Orihime xXx

Her sullen eyes scanned the corners of the dimly lit room. They searched for anything familiar, but nothing was found. She rested her aching head on the cool steel bars that contained her in the dreary room. She had no idea how long she had been here, but she just wanted to sink into the floor and disappear from this place. She wanted to be back with her friends, where all the pain of loneliness was unknown of. She did not stir when the sound of a steel-plated door screeching open pierced her ears. Although, when light footsteps echoed off the walls, her eyes slowly rose up to see _him_, with something cradled in his thin arms. As he moved further into the light, she saw it was a person, a person that looked exactly like her. This caused her raise up and stare blankly at him.

"The resemblance is remarkable, is it not? It's almost perfect." He kindly smiled at her as he discarded the lifeless doll to the bitter cold floor.

"What is that?" Her voice was desperate and hoarse, every word stained out.

He cocked his head at her, "What do you mean? This is you.. or at least, that's what your two friends believe."

"What do you mean?" Her voice had withered away to a faint whisper, plagued by fear.

"They believe that they fought, and probably, killed you. You should have seen the look on that young boys face." he chuckled softly to himself.

"You tricked them?"

He leaned down to her, for he was much taller than she was, and began to twist a stand of her hair with his finger, "Why do you care so much for that man? He doesn't care for you."

"Ichigo does care for me." Her voice became harsh, but very uncertain.

"True enough, but not in the way you care for him." He smiled at her sweetly again in a way that only made him appear more frightening.

". . .He does."

Haku's smile turned to that of a frown full of pity. He leaned in closer to the cell door, holding Orihime tightly in place when she tried to back away. She twisted under his rough grip and avoided all eye contact with him. Even though she tried to ignore it, she could feel his cold stare. As he leaned even closer the door across the room burst open, causing both Haku and Orihime to look up in shock. The figure that stood in the doorframe was shrouded in darkness, only the outline was visible. Angrily, he pushed Orihime away from him, causing her to fall on her backside. He stood and faced the shadow that lingered in the doorway.

"Ichigo?!?!" Orihime gave a hopeful, and grateful, look.

As light poured on the figure, the light in her eyes died a little. Uryu stood in the doorway, not Ichigo. But nevertheless, she was happy that someone had come for her. She watched as his eyes filled with anger caused by the man that stood so confidently in front of her. In one second, as she blinked, Haku was thrown across the room by one of Uryu's arrows. She could only stare blankly and watch as Uryu blasted apart the cell door. She gasped as he quickly pulled her out of the cell and out of the room, leaving Haku behind. Uryu said nothing as they ran down the twists and turns of the hall, he didn't even look at her. She couldn't make any since out of direction they were going, it was almost as if they were just going around in circles.

"Uryu, where are we going?"

"We're getting out of here, what else?"

"So you know how to get out!?" She smiled up at him, hoping he would say yes.

There was a short pause before he spoke again, "My guess is, that guy back there, is the only one who knows how to get out of here. We just have to keep going and hope we get lucky."

"What about Ichigo and Rukia? We can't leave them."

"I'm sure we'll run into them before long." For the first time since their discussion in the hallway at school, he looked at her and smiled.

She half-heartedly smiled back at him. She was surprised, how could he smile at her so warmly when he knew she didn't love him? Why would he still care so deeply for her? She knew the answers to these questions, and a few that were not asked, in the back of mind. She looked away from him and frowned as she thought about him, and about Ichigo. She refused to listen to the answers, they tore her away from Ichigo. As her eyes aimlessly wondered around her, she blushed as she realized that Uryu was holding her hand as they ran.

xXx Rukia xXx

She watched Ichigo as he silently sat on the ground, with his head resting in his hands. Without a word she kneeled down behind him and laid her head on his shoulder. The slow seconds ticked away in the darkness as she listened to Ichigo's heart slow down to a normal pace. The tension pouring off Ichigo was so thick that it almost caused her step away from him, despite this she stayed with him.

When the silence became so unbearable she spoke, "Ichigo, you know that couldn't have been her. She's simply not capable of that, she's not a fighter. You know that."

He looked down at his bloodstained hands in disgust, "It looked like her." His voice was hollow and empty, it was so foreign, even to him.

Rukia saw his point, but she wasn't about to agree with him so he could beat himself up about it even more. When she moved to look at his face, she saw that he was still looking at the blood that coated his hands. Quickly, she took out a handkerchief and hid his hands from his view with it. Still, he didn't look up as she gently wiped away the blood. When she moved to his face, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Before she realized what had happened she was in a lip-lock with Ichigo. His arms were wrapped securely around her small waist and at some point during all this, she had swung her arms around his neck. He moved his hand to the back of her head and twisted her hair around his fingers. The other arm which was still wrapped around her waist pulled her even closer to him. Slowly, Ichigo fell back to the floor, dragging her down with him. Instead of pulling back up, she moved one of her hands down to rest on his chest. She smiled as she his heart beat away beneath his skin.

"Oh, dear, I'm not interrupting something, Am I?"

Both Rukia and Ichigo looked up to address the sarcastic remark, but they remained quiet as they saw who it was that stood in front of them. They stared at the man who had departed only moments ago. Ichigo quickly tossed Rukia to the side and stood, going into a fighting stance. Rukia watched as he pulled out his sword, how the other man just laughed at Ichigo's red face. She felt a twinge in her stomach, something was wrong. He looked different than last time, he looked more serious, almost bitterly mad. The hatred in his voice didn't match the light-hearted tone he had used earlier. She gave Ichigo a worried glance, but it went unnoticed.

xXx Uryu xXx

Out of breath and tired, Uryu finally stopped, with no complaint from Orihime. He watched as she fell to her knees and clutched at her chest. He loved everything about her, her innocent eyes, the way her hair fell across her even more innocent face. There was even a bitter love belonging to the way she had unknowingly ripped out and burned his heart. What was left of his heart was screaming at him to either say or do something, that it had to be now. Something else was screaming too, reminding him that he had already tried, and she had turned him down. He sighed and sat down beside her, too tired to stand. He forced his mind to focus on the situation at hand; they had been running for far too long to come across nothing. Every door they entered had either lead to a dead end, or to another corridor. It seemed as if they were going in circles, that this place didn't have an exit. As he pondered on it, the idea became more believable; he had no clue on how they arrived at this place, perhaps this was only an allusion. As he came out of his thoughts, he noticed that Orihime was looking up at him quizzically.

"Did you hear me?"

"Huh, oh... no, sorry." He locked onto her eyes, not intending to put much thought into what she would say next.

"I asked if you knew where we were, we've been running forever."

He smiled slightly at her whining, he even loved that about her, "No, I don't where we are, I'm beginning to think theirs no way out of here." His smiled faded as he saw the anxiety scrawled across her face, "I mean... I'm sure theirs a way out, we just have to keep searching."

He made a move to get up when Orihime spoke again, "Uryu, about what you said before..."

He stopped himself and sat back down, "Um, what did I say earlier?"

She didn't look up at him, she practically moved away from him, "About Ichigo... about Ichigo and me, and us."

For her sake, he didn't look at her, "What about it?"

"I was thinking that... well, maybe Ichigo doesn't care for me the same way I do. Not the way he cares for... Rukia."

"What do you want me say, that he _does_ care for you?"

"No, that's not it. It's not far for Ichigo or Rukia if I keep going out with him. She cares as much for him as he cares for her."

He didn't want to hear her speak so sadly anymore, so he did the first thing he could think of to make her stop talking. Gently, he grabbed and turned her to face him, with that done, he pulled her into a light kiss, but quickly pulled away.

"I'm sorry, I just... you sounded so sad... I don't want to hear you sad."

"Uryu, that was..."

"I know, it was horrible of me to do, I'm so sorry." He looked away from her.

"Well, actually, I was going to say it was sweet. That you don't want to see me sad. The kiss was... sweet too."

His heart froze in his chest when she leaned over and kissed him on the check. It jolted back to life when the dark walls around him faded away. He looked around in astonishment, it looked they had never left Orihime's house. Further down the street he saw Ichigo and Rukia, he pulled Orihime up and ran over to them. Ichigo head was placed on Rukia's lap, which was surrounded by a pool of blood.

"Rukia, what happened?!"

Rukia looked up shocked to see them, "Ichigo fought with him, when he finally beat him, that place disappeared. But he's really hurt, I think I should take him to Kisuke's."

"Yeah, that's probable best."

xXx Ichigo xXx

xXx later xXx

Ichigo's eyes slowly opened, revealing nothing but a blurry mass of bright colors, his ears herd nothing but a low mummer. With time, the image started to make sense, and the mumbles became clearer. Rukia was looking down at him with heavy eyes, a small smile plastered on her face. He smiled, or thought he did, as she brushed the hair away from his forehead. He winced as he became aware of the pain that plagued his body. He hade temporary relief as Rukia's cold hand cooled his scorching skin.

"Your okay, were at Kisuke's. Everyone else is fine."

"Good." That was all he managed to choke out, his throat hurt more than he thought.

"Kisuke says you can leave anytime you want, but _I_ think you still need to rest. I can't imagine your dad being able to ignore you coming home all beat up like this."

He leaned up half way, "Yeah, but he'd freak out even more if I didn't come home at all. Come on, lets get out of here. Maybe if we're lucky we wont run into Kisuke."

"You could at least thank him for saving your life..." She gave him a disappointed look, which he ignored.

Without any more objections she helped him walk out of the room. When they reached outside, managing to not run into Kisuke, he saw that Orihime and Uryu were waiting for them.

"Hey, Ichigo, knew you weren't going stay here to rest. We thought we'd come see you."

"Heh, so you managed to not get yourself killed, huh?"

Rukia sighed from beside him, "All right you two, that's enough."

"Um, maybe we should go, Uryu. I'm sure Ichigo need's he rest, he should go home."

He smiled as he watched Orihime walk away hand in hand with Uryu, "Well, it looks like it only took a life threatening situation to make her see that it's you I want."

"You shouldn't joke about this."

He smiled and dropped down to the sidewalk, dragging Rukia down with him. He intertwined their fingers and looked up to the sky. His smile deepened as she cuddled closer to him. As she looked up at him, he leaned down and softly covered her lips with his. With his free hand he ran his fingers through her soft raven hair, pulling her closer into the embrace. He had her half way pushed down to the sidewalk when something gammed into the back of his head.

He jerked away from Rukia to see what had hit him, "What the HELL?!?!?!"

"Hey, now, none of that in front of my shop! What are people going to think?!"

His face flamed with furry, "I don't see why anybody's opinion would change, this doesn't affect how weird _you_ are!!!"

"Oh, why would you say such a thing?" He acted truly offended and backed away.

"Come on Rukia, we've wasted enough time here."

He grabbed her hand and guided her away from Kisuke's shop. When he calmed down, he bent over and gave her a soft kiss as she smiled sweetly at him.


End file.
